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Friday, 28 February 2014

Eldar Vs Necrons 1750: Ancient Foes

The ancient foe has stirred, coming from their tombs and threatening
an imperial world. Normally nothing to bother the Craftworld of Dem-Kirath, but
if they are not stopped the seers have had visions of many eldar lives being
lost in the future. The Battle is Eldar vs Necrons 1750, game type crusade with
dawn of war deployment.

The Armies

Eldar 1746

Farseer – 100 w/ guardians (warlord: nothing useful)

[Doom, eldritch storm, guide]

Spiritseer – 70 w/ guardians as well

[Empower, conceal]

10 Guardians – 90

Wave Serpent – 145

Twin-linked Scatter laser, shuriken cannon, holo field

5 Wraithguard – 160

Wave serpent – 145

Twin-linked Scatter laser, shuriken cannon, holo field

10 Guardians – 110

Bright lance

6 rangers – 72

5 Shining spears – 160

Exarch, starlance, hit and run

2 Vypers – 140

Scatter laser, shuriken cannon

Crimson hunter – 160

Fire Prism – 140

Holo field

2 War walkers – 140

Scatter laser, bright lance

3 Dark reapers – 114

Starshot

Necrons 1750

For the warlord trait my opponent uses the necrons traits found in
imperial armour 11, they seem quite good.

Rolling for mission we get Crusade (3 objectives) with a nice and
simple dawn of war deployment. The necrons win the roll for deployment zone and
then again win the roll for first turn! Placing objectives I place one in my
deployment zone on top of a building to my right. In turn he places one just in
front of his deployment below a building and then I place the 3rd in a creator
just outside his deployment hoping to attack it later.

He keeps the Doom scythe in reserve along with the Deathmarks. On the
actual field of battle the lord and immortals deploy on the left in a ruin next
to his objective. On the far left the scarabs deploy, with an annihilation
barge next to them. Behind them the warriors with crytpek (with veil of
darkness) deploy. In the middle the Triarch stalker and second annihilation
barge are placed, finally the second unit of warriors deploy to the right of
them alongside the wraiths.

My deployment and I keep it simple, the farseer and guardians go on my
objective on top of the ruin. On the far left I place the prism hidden behind a
ruin so it can’t get killed first turn. Behind that the vypers are ready to
spring out and act, the shining spears surround the prism as well. In the middle
I place both wave serpents and behind them the war walkers. In a creator the
dark reapers take cover. In reserve I have the crimson hunter and I out flank
the rangers aiming for some sneaky trickery.

Deployment

Night Fight: Turn 1

Steal the initiative: No

The Battle

Necron turn 1

I though darkness was my ally, I was wrong, he uses solar pulse to
make the battle field bright as day. The scarabs go up the left flank,
immortals go forwards to claim the objective. The warriors on the right attempt
to move towards the objective in the crater but roll badly and only move
forwards 2 inches. Both annihilation barges move forwards to see a target while
the wraiths move straight towards the farseer and friends. To finish the
movement phase the cryptek uses his veil of darkness and deep strikes towards
the guardians, they scatter a little but can still see the guardians.

Warriors deep strike into the Eldar lines

Both the scarabs and wraiths run. The stalkers shoots at the
wraithguard wave serpent and hit it (making everyone else shooting at it
twin-linked) but fails to penetrate its armour. The left annihilation barge targets it as well
but he rolls badly and only gets 2 hits which both fail to even glance the
tank. Shooting from the immortals targets the dark reapers and rolls well,
getting 9 hits which ends up killing 2 of them. Rapid fire from the warriors
targets the guardians, and the cryptek uses his abyssal staff and ends up
killing all bar 1 guardian, and even wounds the farseer! The hold though. The
other annihilation barge targets the guardian’s wave serpent and gets a single
penetrating hit, but the serpent shield reduces it down to a glance.

Eldar turn 1

With the warriors coming so close I have no choice but to doom them,
but I get double 1 and use the ghost helm to prevent the wound. As I only have
1 warp charge left, instead of storming the warriors (I can’t do it now, its
warp charge 2) I guide the war walkers. Jumping out of their serpent, the
guardians engage the warriors next to them. The other serpent move forwards
while the vypers move to target the warriors, I have to kill them off in a
single turn. Finally the shining spears move to charge the scarabs.

The Eldar line assaults the warriors

Starting with the guardians, they blade storm the warriors and manage
to kill 4 warriors and even down the cryptek. The wave serpent then shoots at
them with its scatter laser and shuriken cannon, killing an extra 2. Shots from
the vypers reduce them by 4 more models, the farseer and lone guardian attempts
to kill some and kill 1 more, so the war walkers are forced to kill the last
and manage to, gaining first blood! Hoping to take out an annihilation barge
the lone dark reaper shoots a starshot but fails to do anything. The prism does
the same but misses. To finish off the last wave serpent shoots at the
immortals and kills a single model (who doesn’t get up). End of the shooting
phase and reanimation of the cryptek, he stays down.

Assault phase, and the shining spears charge into the scarabs, but as
they are going though terrain they are striking last. The scarabs drag down two
aspect warriors but 2 bases of scarabs die to the lance hits, winning the
combat, but they are fearless.

Necrons turn 2

Reserve rolls and only the deathmarks come in, they deep strike next
to my guardians but scatter 12 into the middle of them and mishap, he rolls on
the mishap table and gets a 2, so I can place them where I want and go straight
in to the far top right hand corner hopefully staying out of the game for a
while. The wraiths go straight for the farseer and get in assault range. The
necron warriors hold the objective in the crater. Both the annihilation barge
and stalker in the middle move up to gain better line of sight as the immortals
take the second objective.

Assassins!

With nothing to shoot the deathmarks run a fancy 1 inch. The stalker
targets the wraithguard’s wave serpent but misses thankfully; unfortunately the
annihilation barge on the left is much more accurate and causes 2 glancing hits
on it. A final volley from the immortals is all it takes to strip the last hull
point off the wave serpent forcing the wraithguard to get out. On the other
side of the table the warriors target the other wave serpent and even at long
range get enough glancing hits on it to wreck it in a single turn (I failed a
lot of jink saves). Finally the annihilation barge on the right shoots at the
guardians killing 4, and the shot doesn’t arch onto anything else.

Assault phase and the wraiths appear from under the feet of the
farseer and companions charging them, murdering them with ease, the guardians,
spiritseer and farseer all die. On the left the spears fail to do any damage to
the scarabs, but the scarabs also fail to do any damage, with the combat a tie
the spears hit and run away towards the annihilation barge on the left.

Eldar turn 2

Sneaking on the table, the rangers outflank on the left side of the
table and hide behind some large rocks, hoping not to get too much attention.
No crimson hunter yet though. The wraithguard move though the wreck towards the
stalker but roll low and only a few make it in range. With the wraiths so close
I have to deal with them, the guardians, war walkers and vypers move back but
still keep them in range. On the left the shining spears move behind the
annihilation barge.

Lance shots from the spears attempt to hit the rear armour of the
barge but fail do any damage (a shame, I wanted to run away in the assault
phase). The fire prism uses its small blast mode and knocks down 5 immortals
thanks to the shot hitting. The dark reaper shoots at the immortals with his
swarm star shot and kills 1 more. They take a moral test but hold. The
wraithguard target the stalkers but only 2 are in range, only 1 hits and
doesn’t get past its armour. More importantly in my deployment zone the
guardians deal 1 wound to a wraith, the vypers deal 4 more, leaving a single
wraith on 1 wound, so I have to waste the war walkers to try and kill them off.
They do it thankfully; I couldn’t let one of those run lose around my
deployment zone.

Like the knights of old, the shining spears charge headlong into the
annihilation barge and wreck it thanks to strength 6 and 8 hits. But they are
now in the open ready for a pummelling from teh immortals.

Necron turn 3

Just when I didn’t want it, the doom scythe comes in from reserve
straight towards the wraithguard. Continuing on their march the deathmarks move
up. The remaining barge moves to the right to get a better sight of the battle
field while the immortals move to the shining spears. The scarabs go straight
for the fire prism.

Death ray, what a name of a weapon, the death ray only goes 4 inches
across the table but still kills 3 wraithguard and catches a war walker
glancing it. The tesla weapon then finishes off the wraithguard. Shots from the
warriors can see a few guardians and 2 fall to the ground, dead. The
annihilation barge shots its true nature, targets the war walkers and both
explode killing a guardian in the process. It’s all too much for the guardians and
they run straight off the table.

Assault phase and to my surprise the immortals charge the spears, the
overlord issues a challenge but I refuse, if I can just stay alive I can hit
and run away. Unfortunately its not the case and the immortals kill a single
spear, and the lord kills off the other 2. They consolidate back onto their
objective. The scarabs charge the fire prism and wreck it, the little buggers.

Eldar turn 3

Like a bird of prey the crimson hunter sees its chance and comes in
form reserve, straight for the doom scythe, not allowing it to desecrate any
more eldar souls. With not much left the vypers turn to face the scarabs, they
have to die or they will just strip the vypers down to scrap next turn.

Firing all of its guns the crimson hunter rips the doom scythe it
bits, every shot hits its target, penetrates and he fails to jink out of the
way. A shot must have hit a major part of the machine as its explodes sending
debris everywhere. The vypers cut down the scarabs thanks to their large amount
of strength 6 shots killing all the bases. For a laugh the lone dark reaper
takes a shot at the annihilation barge but fails to do anything.

Necron turn 4

Again the deathmarks move, maybe next turn they can shoot at
something. The annihilation barge carries on its course of destruction while
the immortals move forwards a little but still keeping the objective.

Again the annihilation barge annihilates a vehicle squadron of mine,
exploding both of the vypers. The immortals rapid fire into the crimson hunter
but fail to even hit.

Eldar turn 4

It’s make or break time, I have to go for the hail Mary pass as I will
lose if I don’t. I move out the rangers towards his objective held by the
immortals. The crimson hunter moves to see them as well.

I run the rangers towards the immortals then fire their pistols, and
manage to down a single immortal. The crimson hunter kills 2 more and the dark
reaper does nothing. It’s enough to cause a moral test, but htey pass and then
all the immortals stand back up.

Necron turn 5

The immortals move to charge the rangers.

Shooting from the annihilation barge kills the lone dark reaper (a
little over kill if you ask me).

Immortals charge the rangers and kill them all and again consolidate
in range of their objective.

Eldar turn 5

The hunter is in such a position it can’t target the immortals do goes
after the annihilation barge but fails to do anything to it.

We roll to see if the game carries on and it does.

Turns 6 and 7

The necrons hold both objectives but jsut can’t seem to do any damage
to the crimson hunter who eventual manages to destroy the barge turn 6 but
fails to do any damage turn 7.

Necrons: 7 (2 objectives, slay the warlord) – Eldar: 1 (first blood)

Least I didn’t get tabled.

Post-Battle

Well that went quite badly, I was on the defensive form the start, got
caught in a corner and just died. Not having a single unit to deal with the
wraiths was a bit of an issue and might be something I need to consider in
future. This necron force was very different from the 2 I faced in the past,
and I still have a lot to learn about them. It’s odd, I have the codex but you
need to play against them before you truly understand what they are capable of.
Did I learn much?

Know your foe: I need to play against necrons more often, each time I
am surprise what they can do and that’s not something that should be happening.
Maybe a rematch is in order?

Combat unit: I need to add in a assault unit to deal with wraiths,
either someone to hold them up or to put out enough attacks to scare them.
Maybe some dark eldar beast masters? I doubt scorpions or banshees will be able
to do it. Would a wraithgknight stand a chance or just get rended to death?

Attack: getting stuck on the defensive and only reacting to his moves
spells doom. I can’t let that happen again; again maybe a powerful unit can
swing that in games?

So what did you guys think about this battle report? What would you have
done differently? Was it my tactics? Did my list have an obvious flaw I didn’t
see? It would be great if you commented.

2 comments:

I think that your Wraithguard could benefit heavily from the Spiritseer being with them. The cover save power might have saved one and the plus one armor save power would help them survive small(ish) arms.

Those wraiths are one of the best units of the game. As SM, they tear through power armor, and even my Termies are afraid of them. Imo you dealt with them as best as possible, shoot them to death at range. The only thing that I will put in CC with them is a full TH/SS Termi unit, and only if I outnumber him.